College Basketball Best Bets: Houston vs St. Joseph’s

College basketball is back and in full swing, but this early in the season and with so many games on the schedule, it can be tough to know which games to wager on. Given that a lot of games in the early going tend to be of the mismatch variety, I have been focusing on playing ATS and O/U wagers, going 5-3 in those picks through the opening few days. I will be staying the course with those types of picks for the next week or so, and I thought it might be fun to share the wagers that I will be playing on Friday. Again, these are all O/U and ATS picks, so let’s jump right in and see if we can nail down some winners.

NCAAB Week 11 Schedule

Houston Cougars (-22) Vs St. Joseph’s Hawks

We will see things change as the season progresses, but for now, the Houston Cougars are ranked in the #3 spot. Their opening game of the season saw them in as a 23 ½ point favorite, a number they covered easily in an 83-36 win Over Northern Colorado. This looks like a similar type of game, and I expect them to go out and cover easily again. They have, going back to last season, covered in 6 of their last 7 games and are also 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Friday night games. I am not letting this big spread scare me off.

Kansas State Wildcats (-6 ½) Vs California Golden Bears

This is one that might well be considered a bit of a risk, as neither of these teams has been particularly good against the spread. Kansas State, though, did cover the spread in their opening game of the season, but they are also just 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games overall. That stat does not look so bad when compared to California, who opened the season with a loss, as they have now failed to cover in each of their last 5 games versus the Big 12 Conference. The spread is low enough to be manageable for the Wildcats.

Duquesne Dukes Vs Kentucky Wildcats – OVER 143 ½

Both teams saw their season get off to a winning start, but it was arguably Duquesne who has the better showing, as they went into their opener as a 3 ½ point favorite over Montana, but the offense exploded on their way to a 91-63 win. Kentucky won big, too, but they were expected to do that in what was little more than a warmup type of game. I think we might well see these two get into a bit of a shootout, with both teams trending heavily toward the OVER.

Monmouth Hawks Vs Virginia Cavaliers – UNDER 126 ½

A very different start to the season for both of these teams. Monmouth opened as a 19 ½ point underdog against Seton Hall and were totally blown out. On the flipside, the Cavaliers won rather easily, but failed to deliver much in the way of offense, and thus failed to cover. When Monmouth hit the road, they are a great UNDER bet, with 10 of their last 11 road games going that route. Combine that with Virginia seeing 8 of their last 12 home games go UNDER and we are left with a rather obvious pick.